


The Life of a God is a Lonely One

by Zamietka



Category: Gintama
Genre: Angst, Dadtoki, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Kitsune Gintoki, Yorozuya Family, but mainly fluff, he might be a god but he is still a dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24700483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zamietka/pseuds/Zamietka
Summary: Deep in the forest, there is an abandoned shrine.Two kids stumble upon it and befriend a god living there.
Relationships: Kagura & Sakata Gintoki & Shimura Shinpachi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 122





	The Life of a God is a Lonely One

**Author's Note:**

> this one was only for fun and got way out of hand lol

Among the creaking trees and the rumbling of the storm, Gintoki could hear crying.

He was just napping safely under the roof of his shrine, sheltering from the rain, when his sensitive ears perked up, catching that faint sound coming with the wind. It was a cry that definitely did not belong to the forest, but to the human world.

After picking up the same sound for the second time, he knew it wasn’t just a mere imagination playing tricks on him. He rose to his feet, going out into the rain. He didn't rush his pace; there was no need. The voice was afraid, not malicious and dangerous. He quietly stepped down the path from his shrine, his silver tails glistening every once in a while in the blinding flash of the lightning.

Gintoki was the god of protection for this forest for... Who knows for how long, now, actually. Few hundreds, maybe a thousand years? With no deeper attachment to people and material objects, the years blended together nicely, flew by quickly like the wind. All he could tell was that his ninth tail was no recent thing, and the time when he was a naive, small, one-tailed kitsune roaming free in the world was but a faint memory. Normally a kitsune as old as him would ascend to heavens with their ninth tail showing up; yet he was still there, bound to the earth and this place he swore to protect, for whatever reason.

He knew every path, every leaf and every stone in the forest he lived in. He knew all the souls that passed away and all the souls born anew. In a way, this sacred place was a part of himself now. He would fulfill his duty to protect that had been bestowed upon him well. He chased away all the intruders who didn't belong there, he punished the greedy ayakashi with bad intentions in mind, he scared off the humans who dared to mindlessly massacre the trees, or dealt with the humans who… ended up being lost out there too, apparently.

Slipping in between the trees in a well-known path, just as he thought, he was met with a sight of a drenched human cub crouched on the ground under the tree. Short black hair were sticking to its face as it was bawling its eyes out. Definitely too young to be out there by itself in such a miserable weather.

"Are you lost?" Gintoki risked asking out aloud. He couldn't help being slightly curious; normally humans couldn’t perceive the presence of youkai, but he heard that their children often were more sensitive in that matter. And indeed, the cub - a boy, Gintoki realised - jerked up upon hearing the youkai’s voice, the tears and fear in his eyes speaking for themselves. 

Gin sighted. Eating the human right then and there would be less of a hassle than taking care of it, but he quickly disbanded the idea. He knew that would just result in a horde of other humans rampaging through the whole area with their careless steps, shouting and looking around for their offspring. He ddn't mind the humans as much as some of the other youkai did, he even admired their carefree lifestyle sometimes, but he had to admit - they were a problematic and rowdy bunch. And he certainly was someone who liked to have his peace.

"I won't harm you. Come with me. You can wait through the rain in my shrine, and then I will show you the way back to the nearby village."

He turned away with a swing of his tails, looking behind at the boy only once when he couldn't hear any footsteps following him. The boy scrambled to his feet with a yelp and started walking behind him obediently, although Gin doubted it was due to common sense - rather due to the fear of what could happen if he wouldn't have listened to a supernatural being equipped with claws and fangs. But hey, whatever worked.

They traversed through a small animal path, Gin maneuvering between the thick bushes and branches gracefully, without a noise, more due to a habit than an actual need, while the boy… Was a mess, to say the least. He couldn't see well due to the tears and wet glasses, constantly was bumping into something, his skin full of small scratches and cuts, clothes all soggy… The kitsune could already smell the foul odor of an illness starting up in the frail body. A small sneeze confirmed his assumption. He almost pitied the creature for being so weak as not to be able to withstand a little cold. He lighted up a small fire in his hand, to help the child see a little bit better in the dark, at the very least, and almost snorted in amusement when that little trick made the boy gasp in awe.

They've reached the shrine, a small piece of haven that Gin wasn't actually spending all that time at much, other than for the occasional nap. It reminded him too much of his confinement to this forest. His shrine got nearly abandoned over the years, the paths once used by humans now overgrown, wooden walls partially rotten and covered by moss. The flow of the time was too heavy on simple-minded attitudes of humans, who stopped comprehending the supernatural part of their world and never visited this place for worship anymore. 

But a powerful being like him didn’t need their faith. He was satisfied when he could just eat without care, sleep a lot, and drink sake. 

As soon as he stepped inside, he could feel the intense spiritual energy flowing through him. The boy, standing as close to the exit as he could, like he was ready to bolt away any minute, already looked a little better too, more colors appearing on his face, although he was also swaying on his legs, visibly exhausted.

"You can rest inside, human. I will inform you when the rain is gone."

"Um. Th-thank you," the boy stammered out, dragging his feet reluctantly inside. Gin seated himself in the doorway, leaning his back on the doorframe and looking away to the rain outside. He could hear the child settling down tensely, unable to rest.

"What were you doing there in this weather, cub?" he asked casually, without turning back.

"Um... Not “cub”. I’m Shinpachi. And um… Some boys from my class just. Prompted me to come here?”

“Just prompted, eh? Also, you know you shouldn’t tell your name to supernatural beings, right?” Gin smirked to himself, baring his fangs, which resulted in a scared gasp coming from the kid. “Relax. If I wanted to eat you I would have done that already. Try to get some sleep, Shinpachi.”

The boy only muttered something incomprehensible in the response. Soon, the exhaustion must have taken over, because Gin could hear the boy's breathing slowing down. His eyes wandered involuntarily to the kid. The small body curled up and shaking in a vain attempt at warming up, sogged wet from the rain, pulled at his heartstrings somehow. So frail and weak. 

Gin against his better judgment with a swift move covered the boy with one his tails. It should keep the child warm, at the very least. He didn't want the foul smell of an easily preventable illness filling his shrine, after all. He let out a small, surprised yelp, ears flattening on his head in irritation, as he could suddenly feel human hands squeezing his tail. He eyed the boy that dared to hug his holy appendage like a teddy bear, annoyed, but Shinpachi was still asleep, probably clinging to the closest warm thing involuntarily. Gin decided to just let him be, although still uncomfortable with the contact, his ears were lying flat for quite a while.

The thunder's rumble slowly subsided, now barely louder than a whisper, drops of rain more scarce with every minute. Shinpachi was still knocked out by the exhaustion, and the kitsune… Just stared, fox eyes focused intently on the face peeking from under his silver fur. He didn’t mind the touch anymore, to his surprise. It just felt… Odd. It's been a long, long while since he felt any sense of protectiveness, not due to the duty, but due to something stronger, born deeper within his heart and soul.

He didn't like it. He didn’t like it one bit, and he wouldn't let that feeling stay with him any longer than necessary. He picked up the human child carefully, as to not wake the boy up, and carried the sleeping body through the forest, his tail still curled around it like a shield from the cold air. 

After a while, he reached the human road, and after making sure there is nobody around, he placed the boy in the grass under the tree. The forest ended here and he couldn't go any further, but the least he could do was to make sure that everything would resolve smoothly. He observed silently, hidden in the bushes in his fox form, and soon some old man walked by and picked the lost boy up. Sensing no bad intentions from the human, Gin considered his duty done, and slithered away, back to the deeper part of the forest, ready to forget about the whole ordeal, and go back to his usual routine.

***

"I think it was somewhere over here."

It was a sunny afternoon after school, a few days after Shinpachi was found on the road by an old farmer. The boy was leading his red-haired friend through an overgrown forest path, unbothered by the fact that he already got lost out there once.

"I'm still pretty sure you dreamed it up, Shinpachi," answered the girl in a bored tone. She was blasting through the thick bushes without any care in the word, even though her school skirt was too short for wild escapades like these and small cuts already littered the skin on her legs. And she was also busy with munching intensely on something.

"Kagura-chan, please tell me that whatever you are eating aren't the offerings we brought."

"Eh, I’m just hungry. And there are still some candies in my backpack in case we really find something."

"Kagura-chan! Candies are not suitable offerings!"

"Why not, though? They are original at least! If there really is something living here, it must be really bored. Nobody visits this place anymore. Papi said this forest is haunted. Anybody who tried to cut these trees down could hear malicious voices end ended up with a horrible fever."

"That's true, I’ve heard those rumors too... that's why I wanted to thank whatever helped me that night, just in case. To make it feel like someone out there will remember about it. I know it's silly, but it just... Seems like the right thing to do," Shinpachi defended himself.

"Whatever helps you sleep, nerd. Now lead the way."

"I think we might be almost there, actually… Yes, I remember this tree… and yes, look! Here is the torii… and the shrine!" He pointed at the small wooden building peeking from in-between the bushes. It was falling apart a little bit, with rotting wood and moss covering a major part of the walls and the roof. Visibly old, it must have been abandoned for a long while, yet it was still standing there, in the middle of the woods, as sturdily as it could.

"Woah. That's... actually pretty cool," admitted Kagura, staring in a small awe at the forgotten shrine.

"I told you I didn't make this up!" Shinpachi stated. Now that they were here, he was starting to get a bit nervous. What if the spirit - or whatever that was he met the other night, his memory was a blur so he wasn’t sure - will be angry with him coming back here? This place must have been abandoned for a reason.

Eerie silence filled the forest as they walked through the overgrown shrine area. Shinpachi gulped, looking around anxiously. 

Something… Something didn't feel right.

He felt watched.

There was a crawl on his back.

And then, Shinpachi thought he heard a whisper. 

He looked frantically around, but there was nothing there. Nothing, except for…

"Um. Kagura-chan?"

"What?"

"...Why is your shadow moving?"

The girl's shadow jerked at his words. Kagura jumped back, surprised. Her shadow erupted upwards from the ground, forming an odd, black mass. A pair of claws formed from it, reaching rapidly for the kids.

Both Shinpachi and Kagura screamed in fear, hugging each other.

And then, the small line of flames appeared in front of them like a protective shield. The black mass retreated instantly. And in walked the kami of the shrine; almost human in appearance, but with silver hair, fox ears, and nine white tails flowing gracefully behind him. And dull red eyes, focused on the intruder.

"Get lost, worm." The short sentence muttered by the kami was enough for the shadow youkai to immediately disappear into the thin air with a screech. 

When the deity turned into their direction, focusing his fox-like gaze at the two kids, Kagura squealed suddenly right into Shinpachi's ear, making him cringe.

“You were right! It really is a kitsune!" she gasped in awe. "His tails are so fluffjjfblgh-" Shinpachi muffled her words with his hand and then stepped forward.

Kitsune's eyes narrowed at his sight.

"It's you again. Patsuan, Pachi or whatever."

"Um. Yes. Shinpachi. I wanted. To thank you for your help the other night, um, the great spirit..."

"Just call me Gin. Do I smell something good?" The kami totally dismissed Shinpachi's attempt at a serious speech, sniffing loudly and focusing attention on Kagura's backpack all of the sudden.

"Oh. Okay. Yes. Anyway, we brought you some offerings!"

"Sweets?" The kitsune’s ears perked up, eyes getting bigger at the small package that the girl took out of her bag, and for a moment he looked more like a cute puppy than a higher being of any sort.

"Candies!" Kagura confirmed happily. Gin barked a jovial laugh. It was like his whole demeanour has changed.

"Hey, now we're talking! I like you two already." He swiped the candies from Kagura's hold instantly with a wide grin on his face.

"...Can I pet your tails?" the girl suddenly blurted out, blushing slightly, which resulted in a frantic "shh" sound from Shinpachi.

"Eh, you are free to do whatever you want in here. Just don't pull my hair out or anything weird like that. Oh, and don't hurt the pine trees." The kami was already half-invested in tearing through the candy stash, a blissful look showing at his face with the first bite. Kagura didn't need a second invitation, literally throwing herself at the fluffy tails, while Shinpachi, mortified by the girl's blunt demeanor, still held aback.

"Shouldn't deities be more... dignified than that?"

Gin just shrugged.

"Some are, some are not," he answered with a full mouth. "I just do what I gotta do, I simply protect the forest. I don't have any great image to uphold. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. Why would I care about dignity?"

"Uh, fair point?"

"Come on, you worrywart!" Kagura grabbed Shinpachi's hand and made him touch the fur. It was silky and soft, and… a bit wavy? He didn’t expect that one.

They loitered around the shrine for a little bit longer. Shinpachi found himself enjoying the solitude of this place. Nobody bothered him like they would at school, and there was no heavy atmosphere in the air like at his home. It was like the forest welcomed them, in a way, offering a peace of mind.

The sun was slowly starting to set though, and both he and Kagura needed to go back.

"Can we come here some other time?" Shinpachi found himself asking. Gin, now lying lazily against the doorframe, hummed in response and then smirked.

"With sweets? Anytime! These grounds might as well be your second home now." 

"What kind of sweets do you like the most?" 

"Hmm. Dango? Been a while since I've been out of here and could try human pastries." Gin said while digging in his nose. How could a kami be both dignified and so gross at the same time, Shinpachi had no idea.

"And "a while" being...?"

"I don't know. Few hundred years? Keeping a track of a time is a bother, ya know?" 

"Woah." The kids looked at each other in awe.

“You have sooo many new things to try out then!” Kagura grabbed the kitsune’s hand and jumped enthusiastically. “Chocolate! Toffee! Jelly! Ice-cream!”

“We will bring you plenty,” Shinpachi nodded in confirmation.

***

The kids came with a visit a few times, afterwards, making a bit of a play with bringing as many different sweets as possible to the shrine and having a challenge who would get to see through the kami taste buds better (as of now, Shinpachi's strawberry milk was winning). Gintoki couldn’t say he minded their presence much. They made his days flow a bit faster, they brought good food, they treated the trees with a rightful respect, and… They were just a pleasant company. He often found himself cracking a smile at their jokes and tomfoolery. They often spent time telling each other stories; he would tell them some legends he learned long, long time ago; and they would tell him stories about human world in return. It changed a lot from what Gin used to know about it, and seemed so much different from the world he lived in.

“Would be nice to see all of this, one day,” he hummed, deep in thought, looking at the drawing of a plain city landscape in the “Jump” magazine Kagura brought today (when the kids learned that most youkai actually couldn’t read human signs, they insisted on teaching him how to read; he couldn’t say he cared much for that, but the pictures were cool to look at). 

“You’ve never been outside of this forest?” Shinpachi looked at him curiously at that.

“Well, I did, but it was a long time ago. Someone must look after the trees that grow here, you know?” He looked fondly at the big pine trees of which shade they were sitting under at that moment.

“...But that sounds miserable,” Kagura put in in a quiet voice. “You’re all alone here. And you are missing on so many fun things!”

Gintoki didn’t reply to that one.

***

Not everything was going so smoothly. From what Gintoki gathered, the kids' school and home lives were less than ideal; that's why they enjoyed the solitude of the forest so much. Sometimes Kagura would show up, all roughed up, with a foul smell over her, the source of which the kitsune couldn’t exactly pinpoint. And always unnaturally silent, avoidant of his questioning gaze.

Sometimes Shinpachi came with red eyes, all tense and jumpy. And while Kagura never talked about her problems, the boy was very honest and easily admitted that some older humans at school constantly bullied him.

"The ones who made you come here during the storm that one night?" Shinpachi nodded in confirmation, his face red in embarrassment, looking somewhere to the side. "Eh, just don't listen to idiots like them." Gin gulped down a piece of dango the boy brought, licking his lips. A classic, but still as good as he remembered.

"That's very easy for you to say." The boy sighted. "They are much older, and just like to pick on others weaker than them. If I won't listen, they will just beat me up. Well, unless Kagura is around," he smiled to himself. “She is much stronger than I will ever be.”

"Nothing wrong about being physically weak, ya know. One of the reason why I didn’t want to eat you, you are just skin and bones,” Shinpachi looked at him in bewilderment. Gintoki felt that maybe he was a tad bit too rough here, so he added: “But yeah, that's very low, to just pick at someone weaker than you. Well, if they ever show up here, let me know. I will gladly eat someone more plump than you." He yawned, showing off his fangs, and then perked up with a glint in his eye. "You know, maybe that's not that bad of an idea."

"What? Eating people?"

Gin smirked.

***

"I really, really dislike this idea."

"You've said that… how many times already? It will be fine! You just have to act scared and lure these bullies riiight into the forest so Gin-san can have some fun with them.” The kitsune’s eyes were literally shining; he was way too excited about this, for Shinpachi’s liking.

“I don't even have to act scared. Muscle mass running after you _is_ scary. But you really promise you won’t actually hurt them?”

“Yes, yes, geez, you are too good for your own good. I'm just gonna give them a bit of a scare. And some mental trauma. And maybe rough them up juuust a little bit.” Shinpachi threw him A Look. “Okay, okay, no physical wounds, got it. You ready?”

“I still don't like this idea.”

“Yes, we’ve heard that one. Now get moving, shoo.” Gintoki pushed Shinpachi away in the general direction of the human school. The boy sighted and condemned to his fate. Tightened his fists. It would be fine. It would be fine.

It was not fine.

Of course on his way, Shinpachi tripped. And lost his glasses, rendering him almost blind and useless.

If it wasn’t for Kagura again - who looked for him after he disappeared after school, not wanting to drag the girl into this stupid scheme - he would definitely be somewhere close to death.

Now they both were having a mad dash through the forest, trying to find Gin. Which Shinpachi in his blinded state wasn’t that much of a help at, totally out of touch and unsure where his meeting place with the kami was. And the bullies were right after them, shouting obscenities at the two kids.

But then their pursuers stopped, clutching at their heads.

“What… what is happening?” Shinpachi muttered in between his heavy breaths, looking cautiously behind. He let out a yelp when something touched his hair, but it was just Gintoki that showed up, leaning his arms on Shinpachi’s head and snickering maliciously.

“What, don’t you know that kitsunes are the masters of illusions? It’s a pretty tiring trick but sometimes totally worth it. Just listen to those guys!”

“They seem to be screaming in pain.” Kagura noticed, dully.

“Hey! You promised you wouldn’t hurt them!”

“Hey, they are not physically hurting! Just mentally! I kept my word! They are just “getting back all the pain they caused to the innocents as a godly punishment”, or something like that, I can’t remember what I exactly said in their heads. Gotta be convincing about that.”

“...Is that even legal? Don’t you deities have some kind of code against abuse of power like that?” Shinpachi was baffled.

“My forest, my rules.” Gintoki stuck out a tongue at him. “Besides, don’t tell me you are not enjoying this.”

Shinpachi looked back at the bullies. No matter how much he would deny it, there was a grim satisfaction on his face as he watched the thugs screaming apologies and scrambling away as fast as they could. 

“Well, that was fun, but now Gin-san is tired and needs a nap. Off you go, you two.” Gintoki said, yawning, and then he made a shooing motion at the two kids. The boy nodded solemnly and waved him a goodbye, while Kagura held back a little bit, rubbing the dirt off her clothes.

“Would be good to go back and find this loser’s glasses, too.” Kagura muttered. She then looked at the kitsune again. “That was nice of you, teaching these thugs a lesson.”

“Well, it was fun to mess with them. And I am a god of protection, in one way another, ya know? Gotta protect the forest from such scumbags.”

“Yeah… Shinpachi is a nerd, but... He was the only one who stuck with me after I transferred here, you know? So... Thank you for helping him.” Kagura gave him her rare, soft but a honest smile. Gintoki felt something warm in his heart at that sight. And something warm in his cheeks. Was he blushing? A great Gin-san embarrassed at words of a human cub? He really fell low, huh.

***

Shinpachi came once, in the middle of the winter, pulling Kagura behind him. The girl had no coat on her, her face was all beaten up, bruises littering her skin. They brought no offerings, no sweets, no jump, there were just red eyes and dried tears. As soon as Kagura saw Gintoki, she burst into tears again. Crying... Gintoki never cried, but he could understand the raw emotion hiding behind it.

“What happened?” he inquired, stepping down to meet them. The girl immediately tackled him with a hug.

“Gin-chan,” she said in between her sobs, looking at him with a sort of desperation? Hope? “My… my brother. Our mami is… she is very ill. And. I don't think Kamui is dealing with this too well,” she finally answered, rubbing her eyes.

Just then, the realisation finally struck Gintoki. The human girl just looked at him not like at a kami, a deity, but like… at a friend. A friend, asking for help.

“That doesn't give him the right to treat you like that,” Gin sighted, scratching at his hair. Friends... He should never have allowed them to stay here. Their two words should never have connected together, that was the way it should be. But that part… It could come later. “Come on you two, rest for a bit and calm down.” Gin couldn't do much else, other than letting them have some peace and quiet for a little while. He wrapped one of his tails around Kagura's shoulders. He could feel the human shaking, as he led her inside the shrine, Shinpachi following right behind.

“Has this been going on for long?” Gintoki asked the boy quietly, knowing that he should get an honest answer out of him.

“A little bit. Kamui… He wasn’t always like that. But now...” 

Gintoki hummed at the boy’s silence. He had his suspicions, but... It wasn’t like he could act on them, really, so he just let it go.

After the girl calmed down a little, the kitsune walked them back to the verge of the forest, his tails curled around the kids' shoulders, keeping them both warm in the frigid weather. Then, Shinpachi pulled the kitsune to the side, as he decided to ask the deity about something.

“Gin-san... I’m worried. I’m worried that something very bad can happen.” Gintoki just nodded at that. "I was thinking… The teachers and parents never listen… Maybe you... Could you leave your forest for a bit, and try watch over Kagura for a few days..?"

Gin swished with his tail. The air stilled, and Shinpachi felt like everything went cold.

"I can't leave this forest," the kitsune just said, nonchalantly. Somehow his blunt tone made something in Shinpachi hot with anger.

“You can't leave this stupid forest even for a bit?"

“I can’t.”

“Why?! Do you want Kagura to get hurt? Is she less important than your stupid pine trees? I thought you care!”

The kitsune’s pupils narrowed at that. Shinpachi felt a shudder on his spine under the intense red gaze. Gin let out a bark of laugh, and then, the youkai smirked, showing off his sharp fangs. Maybe for the first time since that stormy night the boy had a feeling that his life might be in danger in the presence of the youkai. He gulped. But the kitsune only answered.

“I physically can’t leave the forest. It's a "punishment", of a sort. Some youkai are really dangerous, you know? Maybe you would do wise to stay away from this place from now on.”

Gintoki turned his back rapidly and disappeared in the bushes in a form of a silver fox. Shinpachi stared after him for a bit, frozen in place.

He didn’t know what to do. The teachers didn't listen, Kagura's dad was never around, and Shinpachi's was constantly busy with the dojo. If nobody was willing to help, even a protective spirit he considered a friend, well… At least the girl had Shinpachi to look after her. He tightened his fists and rushed after Kagura, who has already disappeared from his sight.

Gintoki ran through the forest in a mad run, long forgotten emotions rumbling through his heart.

I thought you care, The kid's words were ringing in his ears. They hurt. Almost physically. 

He did not care.

He did not care!

He did.

But there was nothing he could do!

...Or was there?

He stopped abruptly. He hasn't talked to the higher beings for a long, long time. They were the ones to put him prisoner in this forest, after all, binding him with invisible chains to the place he promised he would protect as a naive small fox. A small promise to the teacher of the school that was there, a teacher who saved an orphaned fox cub from the death. 

The school and the teacher were long gone, but the promise was still intact due to The Rules.

At this moment, though…

He hadn't felt so strongly about anything for so, so long. He didn't want anything more than being able to protect someone else, once again, without failure.

He prayed.

And prayed.

And prayed.

And then,

the voice called out.

_It was never about the promise you made;  
It was about you giving up the burden,  
And now, that you picked it up again..._

And he could feel it. The invisible shackles being taken off from his heart.

He was… free.

But there was no time to waste, and he immediately transformed into a silver fox, running towards where he was needed, saying his thankful prayers in mind.

***

Shinpachi was terrified.

He had never seen this much blood before.

He had almost thrown up. Thankfully as a dojo student he knew the basics of a first aid; despite his hands trembling terribly, he had managed to stop the bad cut at the Umibozu-san’s arm and call the police and the ambulance on the house phone. 

But he still couldn't find Kagura-chan. He hoped it wasn't too late. Then he heard a scream outside. He froze for one second, and then he rushed to the front door, opening it wide.

Kagura was there, sprawled on the ground, shielding herself with her hands.  
Kamui was there.  
And so was a big, nine-tailed silver fox, growling loudly, standing in between them, wary of the bloodied knife in the teen’s hand. Everything stopped for a second.

"Go away. Do not feed on the grief and sorrow of these people; they are under my protection now. Do not bother them ever again," Gin snarled at the taller figure. He was answered with Kamui’s malicious grin and a dangerous, inhuman look in his eyes.

Very inhuman.

 _Oh,_ Shinpachi realised.

It was not Kouka-san's illness that changed Kamui this badly. At least, not wholly. He was... possessed. That explained why Kagura, the strongest person Shinpachi knew, never retaliated at her brother and took the beating. She probably sensed something was wrong.

Gin’s tails raised up in a warning, a round of small fox fires formed at the tips. “Go away,” he repeated.

The akuma didn’t listen and tried to strike a slash at the fox. Gin easily avoided the assault, and with a swing of his tails send a wheel of blue fires at his opponent. Kagura screamed, seeing the flames touching her brother’s body, which then hit the ground lifelessly.

The body was unharmed though, something seeping off of it, black shadow burning and dashing at the fox again with a wild scream. The fox threw himself at the shade with a snarl, chasing it away from the kids. As the fight went off in the background, both Shinpachi and Kagura scrambled to their feet and rushed to the body lying on the ground.

“Kamui! Kamui! Are you okay?” The boy grunted something in response, clutching at his head. Kagura sniffled and hugged her brother, who weakly returned the embrace. 

The fight didn’t go for long, the kitsune decidedly having an upper hand, finally clenched his fangs on the akuma’s neck, making it vanish with a hollow scream. Kagura and Shinpachi turned their heads in the direction of their protector, smiling gratefully.

"Gin-san..."

“Gin-chan… thank you,” 

The silver fox just nodded, before running off, and disappearing in a thin air.

***

They've never seen Gin afterwards. Shinpachi obviously tried to find him at the shrine after the occurence, but it was empty, not only physically, but something about the place seemed devoid of something important, too. Parts of the building actually fell apart and the shrine looked older and more lifeless than ever.

But when a pang of sadness ran through his heart, he saw it. The faint shadow of a fox, sitting there, under the pine trees he protected for so long. Later on, even many, many years later, Shinpachi could swear that every once in a while, he could see the same fox shadow sneaking around the corner. Watching over him and Kagura.

In a way, it gave him courage in the moments of doubt, and he could walk forward with his chin high up. And both him and Kagura made a habit of leaving sweets on their window sills before sleeping.

They always miraculously disappeared.

And the god of protection was never lonely again.

**Author's Note:**

> small word of explanation since my friend was confused - kitsune are often guardians, protectors. gin was bound to one place for so long, filled with guilt that he couldnt protect the school that burned down.  
> when he rid himself of that guilt and found a new reason to live and something to protect, he "ascended", as the kitsune usually do after they gain their ninth tail. and now he watches from the heavens over the kids that helped him to find that reason
> 
> orrrrrrrr it just simply doesn't make sense. does it have to make sense? it's just a dumb fanfic. if you're here you read it anyway weeeeee
> 
> and I might make a prequel additional comic for this if I feel like wasting my time even more. might. because i hate my life.


End file.
